Beyond Control
by BlossomingGDfreak
Summary: Set a year after the events of the film, Jackson and Lisa are each trying to go on with their lives. Yet it seems they're destined to meet again. Eventual JxL. Please Read and Review. Chapter 3 now up!
1. Don't fear the Reaper

Chapter 1:

Jackson Rippner sauntered into headquarters, earning quizzical stares from his coworkers. It was his first day back on the job after a year of incarceration, and luckily being able to coerce the jury into finding him not guilty. (Or, rather, he had an associate planted on the jury with a "knack for persuasion" if you understand that meaning.) He shot each associate a cool 'got a problem?' look and proceeded to his office.

"Hey Jack!" Jackson turned to see his most despised colleague and assistant manager Vince, coming toward him.

"What is it Vince?" Jackson asked, not bothering to hide his contempt. He may not like the guy, but Vince was damn good at what he did, which placed him in a position of power, yet left him craving more. Jackson knew this guy wanted his job and would cut his throat in a second if that's what would secure it for him.

"How was your vacation, lover boy?" Vince teased.

"Oh, it was just peachy. A stint in prison does wonders for the character. I suggest you try it."

"Aw, did you become Big Bubba's butt buddy? Or is the privilege of kicking your ass strictly given to lovely little ladies like Ms. Reisert?"

Jackson responded with an icy glare, "Care to repeat that, Vincent?"

Vincent chuckled, thoroughly enjoying the rise he was getting out of Jackson. "Well she does look pretty sweet and succulent. Why didn't you just fuck her and get it over with?"

"Well, it seemed to me that once the object of business was on the table, she wasn't too interested in THAT type of relationship."

"Who said she had to be a willing participant?"

"Rape was not part of the program, nor was it necessary."

"No, but you could have had a little fun along the way. Maybe then she wouldn't have distracted you. I know I would have taken advantage of my time in the bathroom with her." Vincent smirked.

"Yes, I'm sure you would have. That's what makes me the bigger man."

"Fuck you, Rippner. If I was your boss, you would have been left in jail to rot. Either that or I would have paid an inmate to take you out."

"Yes, well, you are not my boss, and I wouldn't go around questioning his decisions unless YOU want to be taken out." With that, Jackson turned, unlocked his office, and disappeared inside, leaving a seething Vincent in the hallway.

Lisa Reisert smiled as she sat down to lunch with Cynthia at an outdoor Miami café. Though Jackson had been found innocent, she refused to change her entire life around just because of him. He had friends in high places and she knew that no matter what she did, he'd find her if he were determined to do so. Besides, he failed his last job. His company might just kill him anyway.

What really bothered her was the fact that she had only prolonged Keefe's death. A month after the failed assassination, Keefe's home was burnt to the ground, killing him and his entire family. An accelerant of some sort had been used, and ligature marks had been found on all of the victims, proving that an assassination had been carried out. At least now the blame couldn't be placed entirely on her shoulders. She had tried her best to spare his life and someone else had taken him out. She wouldn't let herself take the blame. She couldn't know the new plan, and she couldn't stop it from happening. It was BEYOND HER CONTROL. She hated that phrase, even more when she thought about how nonchalantly Jackson had used it. Bastard. She should have killed him when she had the chance, but that chance may come again…

"Leese –" Cynthia whistled and waved a hand in her face, "Space cadet, are you here or what?"

Lisa snapped back to reality and smiled, "Sorry, just the events of the last week catching up with me, I guess."

"Oh, I know. But you are still my hero. Are you scared he's going to come after you again?"

"Yes, but there's no point in running. He will find me. I might as well just take my chances and keep the identity that I have. "

"Mmm, it's too bad….what a waste of good looks!"

Lisa smiled, "Amen to that!" Both girls laughed.

"So what do you think you'll have?"

"I think I'm going to start off with something different…maybe a mojito…"

"Aaah, abandoning vodka all together?"

"Trust me, after the Red Eye flight, you would too."

"Nah, I'd probably become an alcoholic," Cynthia laughed, "I'm not as strong as you, Leese."

"Maybe not, but you'll never know unless you fall into one of those incidents that seem to follow me around. Pray that never happens."

Jackson sighed and slumped down at his desk. 'Fuck, if one more person mentions Lisa, I'm going to kill them!' he thought. He glanced at his desk, making sure no one had messed with anything, and noticed a small package in the center. He picked it up and opened it, pulling out a small heart-shaped silver frame, with Lisa's beautiful image staring out at him. He growled and slammed the delicate frame into the ground before picking up his ringing phone.

"Rippner…"

"Hey Rippner, good to have you back! Come up to my office for a little chat. You have an assignment," his boss told him before hanging up.

Jackson sighed, got up and headed for the door. Reaching for the knob, he hesitated, turned and walked back to the smashed and mangled picture frame lying on the floor beside his desk. Gently he plucked Lisa's picture from the broken shards of glass and placed it gingerly in his breast pocket before sweeping the mess into the trashcan. Chuckling at his obsessive compulsive behavior, he left his office and took the elevator to the top floor where his boss awaited.


	2. Who's the Bitch Now?

Chapter 2:

Jackson stopped at the heavy wooden door of his boss, Ted Bunsen's office, straightened his jacket and knocked.

"Yeah? Who is it?"

"Rippner."

"Come in, Jackson, come in!"

Jackson nodded to himself and entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"Have a seat please." Jackson complied and took a seat in the leather chair in front of the heaven oak desk at which his employer sat. "It's good to have you back, son. You are one of my best employees after all."

"Thank you, sir."

"Jack, please, call me Ted."

"Okay…Ted."

"Now, I have a slightly different case for you. I know you're probably not in the best shape, but I need your help on this."

"Sure, what is it?"

"I need you to keep an eye on Vincent. He's been acting oddly and I'm finding it hard to trust him. Report every odd action to me and don't give away your assignment unless I tell you to make a move. Can you do that?"

"Yes, si- Ted."

"Good, follow him whenever he leaves work and watch him at home. Report to me when necessary."

"Got it."

"Good, get to it then," Ted smiled, stretched and leaned back in his chair, fingers laced together behind his head.

"Yes, sir," Jackson got up and left the room. 'Possibly getting rid of Vince? This is a dream come true!' he thought to himself as he started back to his office, whistling and barely able to contain his smile.

"What are you so happy about?" Vince demanded, standing up from the water cooler, eyes narrowed.

"Just got a new assignment, that's all."

"Oh, a new assignment already? I see the boss is very forgiving of you. So what's this new assignment?"

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," Jackson smirked.

"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Jackson simply shrugged as Vince continued, "But oh well, I'll find out what it is when you fail and I have to clean up the mess. I'm getting used to doing that."

"Well, I'm NOT going to screw up this time, and if I do, I highly doubt they would assign you to this job."

"Why? Does it have to do with some bitch?"

Jackson just smirked, "You could say that." He brushed past Vincent and sauntered away, leaving his annoying colleague to puzzle over his meaning.


	3. PrincessMay I Please Speak With You?

Chapter 3:

Lisa and Cynthia continued to laugh and chat all through their lunch together. The attempted assassination on Keefe had brought the girls much closer together. They were practically inseparable now. They felt they could tell each other everything after being a part of the events that had happened a year previous. Suddenly Cynthia caught a glimpse of an attractive man sitting diagonally from them, and studying them.

"Hey, Leese! Gorgeous guy at 1:00! I think he has his eye on you…" she teased.

Lisa turned around and caught the man's eye. He smiled at her, a sweet almost shy smile that seemed to lure an identical reaction from her before she turned back to Cynthia, "Yeah, but he could have just been looking at you, Cynthia. You're cute, why do you assume he's attracted to me? He could only see the back of my head."

"Well, for one, he only smiled at you, and two, he saw your face when you turned around so how can you say there's no way he can be attracted to you? Plus your hair and body are a dead give away that you're gorgeous."

"You flatter me, Cynthia, now you should tell yourself these things when you look in the mirror in the morning. It will help your self esteem a lot."

"Thanks for the advice, Dr. Phyllis…I'll keep that in mind," Cynthia laughed, "He's coming over here right now, so I guess we can end the debate."

"Excuse me ladies, but you both look so familiar…where could I have seen you before?" the young man questioned, his green eyes boring into Lisa's own.

Lisa opened her mouth to speak, but for some reason found herself stricken speechless. However, Cynthia was never one to be at a loss for words, so she took over.

"We work at the Lux Atlantic Hotel, maybe you've stayed there before?"

"Yes, I think I have. I'm Jacob Skinner," he introduced himself and he extended his hand first to Cynthia and then to Lisa.

Cynthia grasped his hand and shook it, "I'm Cynthia!" She smiled, a gesture which he returned.

Lisa took his hand next, "Lisa Reisert," she stated, professionally.

Jacob smiled and kissed the back of her hand, "Pleased to meet you, Lisa."

Lisa blushed and looked over at Cynthia, who had her hand on her heart and was mouthing "Aw!!!"

"Wait a minute," Jacob said suddenly, "are you THE Lisa Reisert? The one who was held hostage by that terrorist bent on assassinating the head of Homeland Security?"

She smiled and blushed, staring at her plate, "The very one." 'When the hell did I become this shy around guys?' she asked herself.

"Now I am honored to make your acquaintance! Now I can say you're the bravest woman I know," he grinned boyishly. Lisa found it cute, but then again, his light brown hair, square jaw and muscular bod weren't bad either…

"Cynthia played a major role in that as well, if she hadn't followed my instructions, the Keefe's, as well as many other guests might not have survived."

"In that case, Cynthia, you are the second bravest woman I know."

Cynthia giggled, "Yeah, but you don't really KNOW either of us. Maybe you and Lisa should get to know each other a little better over dinner sometime?"

Lisa was shocked, "Cynthia!!"

Jacob just laughed, "You know that's not a bad idea. Would you like to go out with me for dinner sometime, Lisa?"

Lisa looked to Cynthia for the answer, and saw her mouthing, "Yes! Yes!" Laughing to herself, Lisa accepted. What the hell, right? She needed to get back into the dating scene again anyway.

Jacob's grin spread from ear to ear when she accepted his invitation, "What nights are you free?"

"Surprisingly I'm free Saturday night around seven."

"Great! Where should I pick you up?"

"Whoa, how about we meet somewhere and see how that goes before I get in a car with you," she laughed, "For all I know, you could be some psycho terrorist needing to use me in an assassination attempt."

Jacob laughed, "Ah, no you don't have to worry about that with me. I'm just a single guy hoping to have a great date with a brave and gorgeous woman."

Lisa smiled again and twisted her napkin nervously in her hands, "So where would you like to meet?"

"How about The Mirage?"

"Sure, the Mirage at seven. Don't stand me up, now."

"How could I stand up a woman like you? Lisa I'll be there at seven in the morning if that's what it takes!"

She laughed, "How about you just be on time, and spend your morning doing something for you?"

"Sounds good. I'll see you then!" He grinned and headed back to his table.

Cynthia squealed giddily, "EEE! Oh Lisa's got a date! Lisa's got a date!!"

Lisa laughed, "Yeah, thanks to you!"

"Hey, I got you a date with a gorgeous man, I think I did pretty well today."

"But why didn't you try to get with him? You were just as attracted to him as I am."

"Yeah, but I knew I'd be rejected for you. That's okay, it's the price to pay for being your best friend."

"Cynthia, I think you need to raid my library. I'm sure Dr. Phil or Dr. Whoever has a book on self esteem, and I'm pretty sure I own it."

"Thanks for the offer, Leese, but I'd much rather raid your closet and help you pick out an outfit for Saturday night."

"And borrow some of my clothes."

"But of course!" Cynthia laughed.

Lisa smiled, "Why don't you come over tonight? We'll have a girls' night at my apartment. You can stay over and we can drink to our hearts' content. You can help me pick out an outfit and borrow whatever you want."

"Okay, but this night also has to involve chocolate, popcorn and a couple old romance movies!"

Lisa laughed, "It's a deal!"

The two girls paid the bill and parted ways for the afternoon. Cynthia promised to drop by Lisa's apartment around six with a supply of booze and whatever else they could think of for the evening. Lisa hadn't had a night with her girlfriends in a long time, it was going to be a nice change.

(**A/N**: _Yes, I know, it is still short. I write as it comes to me. I have a burning question for the next few chapters if anyone wants to help me out? It will involve a minor spoiler for the ending, but it won't entirely give it away, and I could really use the help. So if you care to help me, just send me a private message and I'll let you know my problem._

_A special thanks to: __DaniBD__MythStar__ Black Dragon__Pirate __Gyrl__bookfanatic123__angrw__coleycole6__; and __faniwhiskers__ for your lovely reviews. They really made my day. Also, for all of __you__ who put my story on ALERT, thank you!! It lets me know people actually care about my writing! _

_Lastly, I may disappear off the face of the earth for a little while due to a crazy schedule with school. So don't yell at me if I don't update for a while. Plus, that pesky thing called Writer's Block is trying to latch onto me. holds up spiked baseball bat I'm ready to do battle you pesky menace! __Hm__…well I see it's in hiding for now. Let me know what you think or you won't ever receive an update! __Muahahaha_


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